Drying-chamber



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. EGEN TOURNE, 0F NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

DRYING- CHAMBER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,436, dated October 16, 1860.'

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. EUGEN TOURN, of New Orleans, in the parish ofOrleans and State of Louisiana, have invent-ed a new and usefulapparatus for the desiccation of wet damaged cotton and other wet ormoist substances, as well as those containing their water of vegetationand animal substances usually desiccated by other processes; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is alongitudinal vertical section of the apparatus. Fig. 2, is a transversevertical section of the same. Fig. 3, is a front end elevation of thesame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

My invention relates to the use of a fused metal or alloy in connectionwith a suitable chamber for the reception of the substance or substancesto be desiccated, in such manner that such substance or substances mayvhave their moisture evaporated by the heat distributed throughout thechamber from the fused metal or alloy by which means the teinperature atwhich the desiccation is carried may be regulated and kept uniform. Italso relates to certain means applied in combination with thedesiccating chamber to facilitate the process of desiccation.

A, B, is a stand on which all other parts of the apparatus aresupported, consisting of a horizontal plate of cast iron A, withnumerous openings Z), l), supported on upright standards B, and havingits edges turned up as shown at a, a, in Figs. l, and 2, to form atrough like cavity in its upper side. The standards B, are of sufficientheight to leave room for a lire under the plate A, such height beingmade suit-able to the kind of fuel that is used.

C, is a vessel for containing the fusible metal or alloy made in theform of a shallow flat horizontal quadrangular box of copper or othermetal, somewhat smaller in its horizontal dimensions than the plate A,that when it is placed upon the said plate there may be room all aroundit inside of the turned up portion a, of the plate to make a bed ofcement or mortar c, c. The said box has an opening cl, in the top fittedwith a cap c, by which to close it for the exclusion' of the air andprevention of the oxidation of the metal or alloy which is kept in astate of fusion by the lire below the plate A,-the greater portion ofthe bottom of the box being exposed to the re by the openings b, ZJ, inthe plate A.

D, is the chamber made of copper or other metal or material of ahorizontal form corresponding with the plate A, and box C, havingupright sides and ends and an arched top, but having no bottom but whatis con` stituted by the plate A, and box B, its lower edges resting inthe bed of cement or mortar c, c, which makes an air tight joint allaround the chamber. The arched roof of the chamber is higher at one endthan the other and at the higher end there is formed a circular throatE, which is fitted with an exhausting fan or ventilator F. In each endof the said chamber-aD, there is a square opening f, f, which hassecured to its edges a still' wrought iron frame g, having a screw clamp7i, at each corner, said openings being closed by the heads H, H, ofmetal which support the adjustable feeding and carrying apparatushereinafter described, by which the substance or substances to bedesiccated are fed into and carried through the chamber over the box C,of fused metal. Across the upper part of the interior of the saidchamber D, there are arranged at short distances apart a number of lixedinclined plates z', z', secured to the sides of the chamber, and underthe lower edge of each of these plates is arranged a small transversegutter 7c, communicating with two side gutters Z, Z, which run all alongthe sides of the chamber and from which there are outlets through thesides fitted with cocks j, j. These inclined plates and gutters are topre vent the aqueous vapors which after being eliminated from thesubstance or substances to be desiccated, may be condensed in the upperpart of the chamber from falling back again on the said substance orsubstances such condensed vapors being collected on the plates z', z',and ruiming down into the gutters la, la, and from thence into the sidegutters whence the water is drawn off from time to time or allowed torun OE continuously by the cocks j, j. m, m, are hygrometers arrangedwithin the chamber with their indices on the exterior thereof to showthe degree of moisture therein; and u, is a thermometer having its bulbwithin the chamber but its index outside to show the temperature of thechamber.

The feeding Aand carrying apparatus by which the substance or substancesto be dried is. supplied to and conveyed through the desiccating chamberconsists as follows. I, I, are two horizontal bars of cast or wroughtiron of a length considerablyv journals of one of two drums J, K, aroundY which are stretched the endless apron L, of

wire cloth, which passes through openings @,w, in the heads H, H, thebearings of the journals of the drum J ,being made adjustable vby screwsg, g, for regulating the tension of the apron. Those portions of thebars I, I, within the chamber have a longitudinal groove r, in the innerface of each and in the upper edge of each barV and the lower edgeof'each groove 1, there are provided bearings for rollers s, s, and s',s, for

supporting the upper and lower portions of the belt and preventing themfrom sagging. The heads H, H, having the bars I, I, attached aresupported by means of two pawls t, t, see Fig. 3, attached to the upperone of secure the heads close up two bars M, M, which extend Vacross itsexterior each of which bars is supported upon the fixed jaws of two ofthe screw clamps 71 z., attached to the frame g, at its respective endof the chamber, the said pawls entering upright ratchets u, u, securedone to each side of each head. These ratchets enable the heads H, -H,-with the bars I, I, and apron L, and their appendages not yet describedto be adjusted higher or lower to bring the apron to any suitabledistance from the metal box C.

The bars M, M, are held by the screws of the clamps it, h, up to theheads H, H, and to the ends of the chamber. To each of the heads H, H,there is secured immediately above the opening c, o, that is provided ineach of the heads H, H, for the endless apron to pass through a hood N,in the ends of which are provided bearings for the journals of one ofthe two horizontal elastic rollers P, P, the surfaces of which areformed of hair cloth lined with india-rubber or any other water proofmaterial, and drawn into a longitudinally luted form so that theirtransverse sections resemble the transverse section of an orange asshown in Fig. l. The object of these rollers is to press gently upon thesubstance to be desiccated as it is conveyed through the inlet andoutlet openings o, o, by the apron L, and their construction enablesthem R, R, have applied toV them springs w, fw,

which draw themup to the lower portionof the apron and make them pressVthat `portion of the apron against the rollersT, T, while the upper.portion of the .apron is pressed against the said rollers T, T, by thev elastic rollers` Y Y .The rollersR, R,..T, .'I, and P, P, combine toclose the inlet'and outlet openings c, o, except for the ingress andegress of the apron andthe substance to .be desiccated. r;

The endless apron has imparted to it the necessary motion to .convey thesubstance into, through and from the chamber D, by means of powerapplied to a pulley U, on the shaft of the drum K, and from this pulleya belt runs around a pulley V, on the shaft of one ofthe elastic rollersP, P, the other of` which has on its shaft a pulley V', receiving a belty, from the pulley V. These pulleys are so proportioned as to cause theperipheries of the elastic rollers to move at the same speed ask thesurface of the apron. The

vrollers R, R, T, T, derive rotary motion from theffrction of the apronupon them.

The operationis as follows. The box C,

having been filled or nearly lled with metal or alloy which fuses at asuitable temperature' andV such metal or alloy having been fused by thefire below, the fire is kept up toV keepthe metal in a state of fusion,

and the substance to be kdesiccated is supplied continuously in suitablequantity to the apron between the roller J, and the exterior of theadjacent head H, of the chamber and is carried through the chamber D,over the heated box C, and isdesiccated by the evaporation produced bythe heat radiated from the said box and delivered in a dry lstate at theend of the apparatus next the roller K.

The'vapor is for thermost part drawn 0E according as a lower or higherVtemperature is desired for desiccation. In the desiccation ofWet-damaged cotton I have used lead with a good result. The velocity ofthe apron Wlll have to be so regulated that the time occupied inconveying the substance through the chamber Will be just suicient fordesiccation7 and generally speaking Will require to be greater or lessaccording as a higher or lower temperature is used.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl.A desiccating apparatus composed of a chamber for the reception of thesubstance to be desiccated, a feeding apparatus for conveying thesubstance to and from and through said chamber and a vessel containingmetal or alloy fusible at a 10W tempera-

